Category Archives: Reviews

I picked this up quite some time ago, and only just recently finished reading it. It’s actually quite a gem, in my opinion, though there were points that I couldn’t quite stand.

Overall, it was well written, and characterization was equally well done. The story follows Abramm Kalladorne, a prince of the kingdom of Kiriath through his trials and tribulations of accepting a deity he, at first, doesn’t believe is true. As a fifth son, he is nowhere near the throne, so dedicates his life to becoming a priest of the Mataio – a strict, religious organization. When he comes home to undergo a ceremony that completes his training as a priest, he finds two of his brothers have been killed, making him third in line. More things go awry, and, in a misguided effort to get Abramm out of Kiriath, Abramm’s brother Raynen sells him into slavery. Learning of her brother’s predicament, Abramm’s twin sister Carissa sets off after him, intent on bringing him back home.

Thus begins a two-year-long trek across sea and land, with Abramm facing an assortment of dangers, discovering a prophecy about a “Deliverer”, and coming into a new faith in Eidon and his son Tersius. Yes, this novel has many parallels to the born-again ideas of Christianity, but the religious slant is hardly noticeable. Except for when it is so horribly obvious, and Abramm’s continued denial of “truth” honestly made me want to bang my head against a wall after a while of his whining about wanting to know Eidon. But, aside from the obvious shades of the author’s opinions, it is a nicely written fantasy novel, with a few well-known tropes of standard fantasy fare. I really recommend picking it up off Amazon, and the Kindle edition costs you nothing. On an added note, it is book 1 in what Hancock calls the Legend of the Guardian King. I haven’t been able to get the rest of the series, but I will at least get book 2 at some point to see where this series goes. You can find Light of Eidon here.